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Rocket Lab is seeking a Principal Spacecraft Operations Engineer to lead mission operations for a growing fleet of satellites supporting commercial and government customers. Based at headquarters in Long Beach, CA, you will be responsible for the health, safety, and optimal performance of diverse missions including LEO constellations, interplanetary exploration, LEO rendezvous, and Space Development Agency deployments.
In this role, you will serve as the technical lead for mission operations, setting strategy and direction while managing the operations team. Key responsibilities include advocating for operability across program design, owning mission operations requirements, and leading requirements validation and verification. You will define automation strategies and lead development of robust, software-driven methods for mission operations, testing, and data analysis.
You will design, develop, and test flight software sequences and FDIR/telemetry configurations for spacecraft health and fault management. You will architect and develop ground software for long-duration operations, including scripting and automation frameworks that scale across a growing fleet. You will establish integration, testing, and maintenance of mission operations tooling and codebases, ensuring CI/CD discipline and on-call schedules.
Additional responsibilities include authoring interface specifications, CONOPS, and contingency procedures; leading validation of flight products against spacecraft simulation tools (flatsat, HITL, SIL, digital twins); supporting AIT teams across integrated tests; and serving as a key technical interface between New Zealand and USA engineering teams. You will represent mission operations in program milestone reviews, design reviews, and readiness gates, driving continuous improvement through post-mission lessons learned.
Rocket Lab's Space Systems team has enabled over 1,700 missions and built spacecraft and components for missions to the Moon and Mars, partnering with NASA, the Space Development Agency, and the U.S. Space Force. The role offers unique exposure to vertically integrated space operations across multiple mission types and customer bases.
